Drinking Cup Tethering Device

ABSTRACT

A drinking cup tethering device includes a strap, a first end and a mid-portion of the strap being connected to a releasable two-part connector forming a first loop of the strap. The other end of the strap is connected to a slide connector, another mid-portion of the strap passing through aligned slots through both parts of the slide connector forming a second loop which fits around the cup. A spring between the base and a release button in the base produces a gripping force between the slots in the base and aperture in the bottom to grip the strap which is manually releasable to tighten the second loop securely around the bottle. A rubberized strip on the inward facing side of the second loop helps insure that the cup remains securely tethered.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC

Not applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to tethers, and more particularly to a drinking cup tethering device which tethers a child's “sippy cup” to an object in which the child is seated and which limits the distance the cup may be thrown or dropped and easily retrieved without concern for inadvertent detachment therebetween.

2. Description of Related Art

The use of liquid containing drinking cups which have a sealable drinking lid attached thereto have become well known for feeding liquids to small children. These cups, typically known as “sippy cups” are placed into the hands of small children who are seated in a high chair, booster seat, stroller, car seat and the like to facilitate unattended dispensing of the liquid from the drinking cup.

However, these small children are well known to throw or drop the sippy cup which has to be retrieved by the adult or parent attending to the child. If the lid of the drinking cup does not break loose, the only inconvenience is that of retrieval. However, liquid clean up can also be aggravatingly involved if violent throwing of the partially filled beverage cup causes the lid to become detached.

A number of prior art tethering devices are known which attempt to address this issue by limiting the distance the drinking cup may be thrown by the child. However, inadvertent detachment of the drinking cup when thrown sufficiently violently by the child appears still to be a need not yet satisfied by these prior art devices as follows.

Published patent application US 2006/0163301 to Rhodes, et al. discloses a tethering device for bottles, cups, and the like composed of three adjustable integrated straps and self-locking buckle connectors, the use of which will increase frictional engagement upon the held item and provide enhanced child-proofing. Kaplan, et al. teaches a tether device for a child's cup in published application US2006/0289713. The tether comprises an elastic strap and childproof fastener forming a loop.

A bottle tote is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,780 to Becker, the device for carrying a bottle of liquid having a belt with nylon cord and spring-loaded toggle clip attached thereto. Similar to the Kaplan reference, Deike teaches a cup leash comprising an elastic strap having two ends and childproof fastener in published application US2005/0115996. A bottled drink carrier for wearing around the neck or on the shoulder of a user is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,066 to Giancona, Ill.

Barville, et al. teaches a device for anchoring a baby bottle to a harness in U.S. Pat. No. 4,096,977 and a band for a child's water bottle is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,261 to Wu. U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,841 to Johnson teaches a holder of resilient sheet material for holding a fluid-containing bottle by VELCRO® around a bicycle frame. Smith, et al. discloses a flexible device with a clamp and bottle support in U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,486 and an accessory holder is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,183 to McConnell, et al. for removable attachment to a stroller.

A carrier device for plastic bottles with releasable connectors is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,079 to Heather, and Ragner, et al. teaches a beverage holder for attachment to bicycles, lawn mowers and the like in U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,153. A strap attachable to a beverage container and an article of clothing is disclosed in published application US 2002/0046984 invented by Cheatwood.

Published application 2002/0005418 to Levesque, et al. teaches a device for connecting a bottle to an individual, back-pack or article of clothing comprising resilient o-rings and bottle-neck receiving loops and U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,957 to Scharf teaches a baby bottle securing garment.

The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.

The present invention provides a drinking cup tethering device which, when properly installed onto a drinking cup for children, virtually insures against inadvertent slippage or detachment of the drinking cup from the tethering device regardless of the violence of the throw achieved by the child when the attention span for drinking has ended.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention is directed to a drinking cup tethering device includes a strap, a first end and a mid-portion of the strap being connected to a releasable two-part connector forming a first loop of the strap. The other end of the strap is connected to a slide connector, another mid-portion of the strap passing through aligned slots through both parts of the slide connector forming a second loop which fits around the cup. A spring between the base and a release button in the base produces a gripping force between the slots in the base and aperture in the bottom to grip the strap which is manually releasable to tighten the second loop securely around the bottle. A rubberized strip on the inward facing side of the second loop helps insure that the cup remains securely tethered.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a drinking cup tethering device which virtually insures that the tethered drinking cup will not become disengaged from the device regardless of the strength or violence of the thrown drinking cup.

It is another object of this invention to provide a drinking cup tethering device which greatly improves gripability to secure the drinking cup to the tethering device to insure that proper engagement is maintained.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a drinking cup tethering device which incorporates a unique spring-biased slide connector in combination with a rubberized strap surface against the bottle to insure that maximum gripability is achieved and maintained around the drinking cup.

The following embodiments and aspects thereof are described and illustrated in conjunction with systems, tools and methods which are meant to be exemplary and illustrative and not limiting in scope. In various embodiments one or more of the above-described problems have been reduced or eliminated while other embodiments are directed to other improvements. In addition to the exemplary aspects and embodiments described above, further aspects and embodiments will become apparent by reference of the drawings and by study of the following descriptions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of FIG. 1 with the drinking cup loop tightly secured around a drinking cup and the object engaging loop open.

FIG. 3 demonstrates two-handed tightening of the drinking cup loop around a drinking cup.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the slide connector of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an opposite side elevation view of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a bottom plan view of FIG. 4.

FIG. 8 is an end elevation view of FIG. 4.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of FIG. 4.

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 4.

FIG. 11 is a side elevation section view of FIG. 4 showing the strap.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment in use.

Exemplary embodiments are illustrated in reference figures of the drawings. It is intended that the embodiments and figures disclosed herein are to be considered to illustrative rather than limiting.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings, the preferred embodiment is there shown generally at numeral 10 and includes an elongated flexible fabric strap 12 preferably formed of polypropylene webbing material and adapted to be sewn or heat-sealed together as required and described herebelow. The drinking cup tethering device 10 also includes a molded plastic two-part releasably separable connector 16, a first part 32 of which is permanently connected at 30 to a sewn loop at the first end of the flexible strap 12. As best seen in FIG. 2, the second part 16 b of the releasable connector 16 is slidably engagable along a mid-portion 36 of the flexible strap 12 such that, when the connector parts 16 a and 16 b are connected together as shown in FIG. 1, an object engaging loop 20 is thereby formed which is readily attachable around any stationary or substantially stationary portion to which the device 10 is tethered.

The other end of the flexible strap 12 is permanently attached by sewn loop 28 to a lower edge margin of a molded plastic slide connector 14. The slide connector 14 includes a molded plastic base 15 and a molded plastic actuator button 24. As best seen in FIGS. 4 to 10, the molded plastic base 15 includes a bottom 48 and upstanding side walls which define an open upper end 17 of the base 15. One of the sides of the base 15 includes a slot 44 which mates and generally orthogonally aligns with slot 46 formed into the corner of the bottom 48. These opposing, aligned slots 44 and 46 receive and secure a looped and stitched end 28 of the strap 12 as best seen in FIG. 11.

The base 15 also includes aligned slots 40 and 42 formed through opposing side walls which are also sized to slidably receive another mid-portion 34 of the strap 12 slidably engaged therethrough as best seen in FIG. 11. This arrangement of the strap 12 with respect to the slide connector 14 creates a permanent drinking cup-engaging loop 18 which is uniquely adjustable in size as will be described herebelow.

Attached to the inner surface of the drinking cup-engaging loop 18 is an elastomeric or rubberized fabric layer 22 attached thereto. This elastomeric layer 22 has a texturized surface and is highly slip resistant with respect to other surfaces placed thereagainst. Particularly with respect to the outer surface of a cup C, this rubberized layer 22 is uniquely adapted to resist slippage or loosening of the drinking cup engaging loop 18 after being tightened around the cup C as will be described herebelow more fully.

The strap locking button 24 is separate from the base 15 and is slidably engagable in close alignment within the inner surfaces of the side walls of the base 15. The exposed outer surface 50 of the locking button 24 includes a finger indent configured to facilitate both quick release of the cup-engaging loop 18 as well as the quick strap tightening thereof around the cup C. As best seen in FIG. 11, the locking button 24 is preferably formed of generally solid molded plastic material having a transverse aperture or passage 52 formed therethrough which is in general alignment with the slots 40 and 42 formed through the side walls of the base 15 for positioning of the mid-portion 34 of strap 12 therethrough as shown.

As best seen in FIGS. 10 and 11, a compression spring 54 is positioned between the inner surface of bottom 18 and a molded cavity 56 formed in the interior surface of the locking button 24. Spring cavities 56 and 58 serve to maintain proper lateral alignment of the compression spring 54. When the locking button 24 is moved downwardly by finger pressure in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 11, the compression spring 54 is further compressed upon assembly so that one of the ends of the strap may be inserted through the now-aligned slots 40 and 42 and aperture 52. Thereafter, when the locking button 24 is released, the compression spring 54 exerts separating pressure in the direction of arrow D to move the locking button 24 outwardly with respect to the base 15 a small distance until squeezing contact is made at 62 and 64 between the upper surfaces of slots 40 and 42 and the bottom surface 60 of aperture 52. At this point, a squeezing pressure is thereby exerted against the mid-portion 34 of strap 12 such that the strap 12 is secured from lateral movement in the direction of arrow A with respect to the base 15.

However, when the locking button 24 is pushed downwardly in the direction of arrow B, the mid-portion 34 of strap 12 will be released allowing for manual pulling adjustment of the strap 12 as best depicted in FIG. 3. A most important aspect of the invention is depicted in FIG. 3 wherein the device 10 is virtually lockably engageable around the cup C by the cup-engaging loop 18. Once the position of this cup-engaging loop 18 is achieved as shown in FIG. 2, the user grabs the slide connector 14 in one hand while pulling against the flexible strap 12 in the direction of arrow A with the other hand. By this action, virtually all lash or excess strap material is pulled through the slide connector 14 after which release of the locking button 24 secures this arrangement as shown. Preferably aided by the non-slip elastomeric inner material attached to the drinking cup-engaging loop 18, virtually any aggressive movement of the cup C by the child after drinking the desired fluid from the cup C will not cause any loosening or disengagement of the cup C from the drinking cup-engaging loop 18.

As best seen in FIG. 12, one typical embodiment of the use of the invention 10 is there shown wherein the infant is placed within a stroller E after the drinking cup C has been filled with a liquid and the drinking cup-engaging loop 18 has been tightened around the cup C as previously described. The object-engaging loop 20 is shown connected around the center strap portion F of the safety belt G so that a tethering effect is achieved. Thus, when the child chooses to disregard, hurl or otherwise throw or drop the cup C, the cup-engaging loop 18 securely maintains a tethered relationship so that the cup C cannot move very far, generally to the length of the device 10 as adjusted in length by the two-part releasable connector 16.

Note that the object-engaging loop 20 may be engaged around any other suitable stationary object with respect to the infant, depending upon the modality of infant support, including high chairs, car seats, strollers and the like. Note further that the slide connector may alone be utilized to derive benefits of drinking cup securement. Moreover, the uniqueness of the slide connector may be applied to a broad range of flexible strap or webbing devices, the overall benefit being the ability to one or two-handedly tighten the strap around any object and have that tightness fully maintained.

While a number of exemplary aspects and embodiments have been discussed above, those of skill in the art will recognize certain modifications, permeations and additions and subcombinations thereof. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims and claims hereinafter introduced are interpreted to include all such modifications, permeations, additions and subcombinations that are within their true spirit and scope. 

1-3. (canceled)
 4. A drinking cup tethering device comprising: an elongated flat flexible, substantially non-elastic strap having a first end and a second end; said first end connected to a first part of a two-part releasably separable connector, a second part of said releasable connector attached to, and slidably adjustable along a mid-portion of said strap, said first and second parts forming an object engaging loop when said first and second parts are releasably connected together; a slide connector including a base, a strap locking button and a compression spring; said base having a bottom and upstanding side walls extending from said bottom to define an open upper end of said base; said locking button sized for closely fit sliding movement through said open upper end within said base; said base also having laterally aligned orthogonally opposing elongated corner slots formed through one end of said bottom and a lower end of a first of said side walls; an elongated side wall slot formed through each of said first and second side walls, said side wall slots opposing one another and positioned in close proximity to the open upper end above and laterally aligned with, and parallel to, said corner slots; said second end connected by a sewn loop to said corner slots, another mid-portion of said strap closer to said second end passing through said side wall slots and extending orthogonally from said side wall generally parallel to said second end and forming a drinking cup engaging loop generally sized in girth to fit around the cup; said button having an elongated aperture formed therethrough and longitudinally of said strap, said elongated aperture being in general alignment with said side wall slots, said slots and said aperture each being sized to slidably receive said strap passing therethrough; said compression spring positioned between said bottom and a lower surface of said button, said button being biased outwardly from said bottom through said open end by said spring, one edge of each end of said elongated aperture and said side wall slots being urged by said spring tightly gripping against said strap to prevent relative movement of said strip, which gripping of said strap is releasable by manual pressure against an exposed surface of said button to depress said button firstly into said hollow interior said button; said corner slots and said aligned slots being arranged in close proximity and alignment one to another for enhanced tightening of said drinking cup engaging loop around the cup; a non-slip elastomeric strap attached to an inward facing side of said drinking cup engaging loop to insure that the cup remains securely tethered to an object around which said object engaging loop is secured when the cup is thrown or dropped by a child.
 5. A method of tethering a child's drinking cup to an object, comprising: providing a drinking cup tethering device including: an elongated flat textured flexible strap having a first end and a second end; said first end connected to a first part of a two-part releasably separable connector, a second part of said releasable connector attached to, and slidably adjustable along a mid-portion of said strap, said first and second parts forming an object engaging loop when said first and second parts are releasably connected together; said second end connected to a base of a spring biased slide connector, another mid-portion of said strap closer to said second end passing through aligned slots formed through spaced side walls of said base and permanently forming a drinking cup engaging loop generally sized in girth to fit around the cup, said base open on a top thereof and having a hollow interior; a strap locking button separate from said base and slidably movable in and out through said open top within said hollow interior; said button having an elongated aperture formed therethrough and longitudinally of said strap, said elongated aperture being in general alignment with said aligned slots formed through side walls of said base, said slots and said aperture each being sized to slidably receive said strap passing therethrough; a compression spring positioned between a bottom panel of said base and a lower surface of said button within the hollow interior, said button being biased outwardly from said bottom through said opening by said spring, one edge of each end of said elongated aperture and said side wall slots as urged by said spring tightly gripping against said strap to prevent relative movement of said strip, which gripping of said strap is releasable by manual pressure against an exposed surface of said button to depress said button firstly into said hollow interior wherein said drinking cup engaging loop may be tightened around the cup; a non-slip elastomeric strap attached to an inward facing side of said drinking cup engaging loop which acts in cooperation with lockably tightening said drinking cup engaging loop around the cup to insure that the cup remains securely tethered to an object around which said object engaging loop is secured when the cup is thrown or dropped by a child; releasibly engaging said first and second parts together around a selected object; engaging said drinking cup engaging loop around the drinking cup; grippingly tightening said drinking cup engaging loop around the drinking cup by applying manual pressure against said button and said base and restraining said slide connector while pulling on the mid-portion of said strap; releasing manual pressure from said slide connector. 